Slipknot: 24 Interesting Facts You Might Not Have Known

I am not a huge fan of Slipknot, but I can simply not ignore the influence this band has on the Rock and Metal scene. I have however become a huge fan of their songs “Psychosocial” and “Wait and Bleed”. I was only exposed to their music in the late 1990s (thanks to my brother playing me “Wait and Bleed”). I have to admit that I’ve grown to love their music more over the years, I loved their 2019 album (We Are Not Your Kind).

The band has been around for a while and there’s probably quite a bit that you don’t know about them, so I’ve decided to inform you today…

Here are 24 Interesting Slipknot Facts You Might Not Know

1. Slipknot were formed in 1995 in Des Moines, Iowa in the United States.

2. Shawn Crahan, Mick Thomson, Corey Taylor, Sid Wilson, Jim Root, Alessandro Venturella, Jay Weinberg and Michael Pfaff are the current members of the band.

3. Joey Jordison, Paul Gray, Donnie Steele, Josh Brainard, Anders Colsefni, Craig Jones, Greg Welts and Chris Fehn are all former members of the band.

4. Before embarking on Ozzfest 99 frontman Corey Taylor blew out his vocal chords and was forbidden to speak for more than half an hour a day. He used up his half an hour on stage and carried a pen and paper for the whole tour.

5. Corey Taylor is also the lead vocalist for Stonesour.

6. The band uses masks, barcodes, and numbers to identify themselves.

7. Their debut single “Wait And Bleed” was voted as the 36th greatest metal song of all time by VH1.

8. The band has been nominated for 10 Grammy Awards, resulting in one win (for their 2006 release “Before I forget”).

9. In 2008, vocalist Taylor commented on a school attack in South Africa that Slipknot were linked to, saying: “obviously, I’m disturbed by the fact that people were hurt and someone died, as far as my responsibility for that goes, it stops there, because I know our message is actually very positive.” He also furthered his point by saying: “there are always going to be mental disorders and people who cause violence for no other reason than the fact that they’re fucked up and lost.”

10. Slipknot have released 8 studio albums since to date: Slipknot (1999), Iowa (2001), Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) (2004), All Hope Is Gone (2008), .5: The Gray Chapter (2014), We Are Not Your Kind (2019) and The End, So Far (2022),

11. Corey Taylor used to work in a porn shop before joining the band.

12. The band refer to their fans as “maggots”.

13. Paul Gray Defended the Clown Masks Until the End. He died in 2010. He had this to say about the masks:  “You can only stare at a clown mask so long. After a few minutes it’s no big deal anymore. So people start paying attention to the music instead of what the clown is doing, or what he is wearing, or how cool his spiky hair is.”

14. Shaun Crahan Liked Smelling Crows. This drummer kept a dead crow in a jar behind his drum kit while he played. Apparently he did this to keep the hardcore vibe going throughout the show.

15. Slipknot did not wash their masks on tour. They didn’t wash them because they believed that it would carry the “spirit” of the tour with them wherever they went. The masks would have sweat, spit and sometimes vomit on them.

16. Sid Wilson Was Not Afraid of Fire. In the younger days of the band Wilson liked to make a name for himself by going up in flames – literally. He would set himself on fire during live shows.

17. Shawn Crahan Wears Gloves to Meet Fans. “The Clown” Crahan started wearing surgical gloves to meets fans after he began noticing how dirty some fans could be. Apparently, the other band members thought that was rude of him, but his gloves would get so dirty that he felt his behavior was justified.

18. Some of Their Lyrics Were Based on a Video Game. Not much is known about their first album, Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. What is known is that most of their lyrics for this album were actually based on a video game called Werewolf: The Apocalypse.

19. Slipknot played their first show on April 28, 1996 at Hairy Mary’s II in the suburbs of Des Moines, Iowa.

20. Corey Taylor has the Japanese character for “death” tattooed on one side of his neck, and the character for “father” on the other side. This was because he never knew his father. It on the outside edges of his number which is also tattooed on his neck.

21. The dreads on one of the Corey Taylor’s masks are made out of his real hair.

22. Slipknot is the first platinum selling band/album in Roadrunner Records history.

23. Craig Jones (a former member of the band) was known as the “quiet one”. One could tell this by the zipper he used on his mask.

24. Joey Jordison passed away in July 2021 at the age of 46. His family confirmed he’d died in his sleep and his former Slipknot bandmates paid tribute to him on social media by sharing photos of blacked out squares as well as blacking out their website.

I have not seen this band live, but I would love to. I think it would be mind-blowingly awesome. Check out the band performing “Psychosocial” below:

Well, there you have it, 20 facts about Slipknot. If you have learned something, please share this post with your friends on social media.

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